Hi there, and welcome to Launcher!

Make sure you read the warning near the end of this
document.

Version 1.1 (this version) is approximately 2 days
newer than version 1.0.  Version 1.1 fixed the following
things:

        - You can now start windows from any directory
        - The reload bug has been fixed
        - Launcher is more stable and better at finding
          initialization files.  (I shouldn't even have
          release version 1.0, this was an easy fix.)

I wrote this program in about a week, so it's probably
quite buggy.  It's also (more to the point) free, meaning
you don't have to register it or anything.  Just use it!

I run on a 1024x768 display, so I'm partial to hi-res apps
and I made the bitmaps fairly large.  (48x48).  If you're
running on a 640x480 display you'll only be able to fit
10 apps in the launcher at a time.  However the bitmap
size is customizable (as long as they're square) and if 
you like you can make your own buttons of any size, using
a bitmap editor.  The first line in LAUNCHER.INI specifies
the size of the bitmaps to use.

To install the program, just put all the files that came
in LAUNCH10.ZIP into some directory of your choosing, such
as c:\windows\launcher, and then copy or move the files
LAUNCHER.EXE and LAUNCHER.INI into your windows directory.

The program will autodetect your video resolution and 
put the launcher on the right side of your screen.  

The launcher will slide up and down if you click anywhere
on it and drag.  If you have a slow video card like me,
(at least it's slow in 1024x768x256 colors), then if you
move it too fast it will blur a bit, because it's not
getting a chance to repaint itself.

No matter what bitmap you choose for the top button, it
will always bring up the launcher control panel when
you double-click on it.  

If you want the launcher to be your system shell, change
the line in your system.ini file that reads SHELL=PROGMAN.EXE
to read SHELL=LAUNCHER.EXE.

You have to specify SOME sort of text editing or word-
processing program in the LAUNCHER.INI file.  Check the
sample .ini file that comes with it for an example.
(I use notepad.)

You can launch things by association.  Just put the file
you want loaded in on startup after the program's name, like
this:

c:\windows\notepad phone.txt  

and it should work.  If it doesn't, well...my error checking
isn't too good and it will probably crash with a weird runtime
error, and I'm sorry but there's nothing I can do.  Just restart
the launcher and don't do that again :)  It usually works for me
though.

The control panel that comes up when you click on the launcher
icon gives you some self-explanatory choices.  The "Reload"
option lets you restart the launcher, so if you've made some
changes to LAUNCHER.INI they can take effect. The "Execute" option
lets you run a program. Its operation is similar to that of the 
File/Run command from the Program Manager.

You can make your own bitmaps with Paintbrush or a similar
bitmap editor.  They should by 48x48 pixels or strange things
will happen (unless you have deliberately changed the default
size in LAUNCHER.INI, that is.)  If you don't have a bitmap 
editor that can tell you how big the bitmap is that you've drawn,
you can try this:

    Load one of the stock bitmaps that I've provided for you,
    (such as blank.bmp, which is just a blank button),
    make some changes to it, and SAVE AS something else.  I
    haven't actually tried this in paintbrush but I don't
    see why it shouldn't work. 

Well, time for the disclaimers.

***WARNING***
  
      I have had good luck with this program, but I make no
      guarantee that it will work on your machine.  I will
      not be responsible for any damages incurred by the
      installation or use of this program of any kind. YOU
      will be responsible.  This program is free, and you
      get what you pay for.

However, since I did write the program I have a certain
interest in the program's behaviour.  If you find any
bugs, or have any suggestions or comments, then I would
appreciate it if you mailed or emailed me about them.

I can be reached at:

Steve Yegge
2806 Briar Lea Loop S.E.    <-- not forever, though
Olympia, WA 98506
U.S.A.  

email: stevey@cs.washington.edu  <-- also not forever.  I graduate in 1993.

I hope you enjoy this program as much as I have!